The wedding season is here and our houses are full of different types of mithaiyan, mishriyan, badaam and kaju with a hand full of uniquely designed cards jihnanu dekh ke vyah de budget da estimate lgana bda saukha ho janda hai!

But when the world is busy distributing the most lavish wedding cards and sweets, here’s a family that chose to go the other way!

An industrial family from Ludhiana, headed by Amrik Singh Sokhi, originally hailing from Utalan village of Samrala sub-division, has their daughter’s (Sippy) wedding scheduled for 5th of November. Instead of going for the typical saade ko bada faltu paisa hai wali dramebaazi, this family chose to use this opportunity as an attempt to conserve environment and serve the society through rejuvenation of cultural heritage.

A simple wedding invitation card was enclosed in an attractive carry-bag with ‘Shagan Wela’ scribed on it, carrying a pouch of sugar lumps and a book.

The book, authored by Professor Paramjit Kaur Noor and published by the International Punjab Lok Virasat Academy, Ludhiana, contained folk-songs and poems projecting various traditional ceremonies and rituals of a Punjabi wedding. Causes and consequences of social evils, brain drain and urbanisation of society, were other issues highlighted in the book.